Soccer

Soccer is a thriving sport here in St Mary’s. We have entered teams at Minor (1^st & 2^nd Yr) and Junior (3^rd & TY).

Training takes place on the school field on Thursdays and home matches are played in nearby Brickfields.

St Mary’s Sec School reached the County final stage of the Tipperary FAI Futsal . With only the regional winners present the standard was high and St Marys did well to record an opening win over St Ailbhes with goals from Ciara Ryan and Caitriona Finn. Confidence was on a high heading into the second group game against Ursuline Thurles but aginst a strong side St Marys did well to hold out for a 1-1 draw. In the final group game against St Annes of Tipperary town St Marys hit the lead with a fine finish by Ruth Kennedy but the concession of two second half goals spelled the end of St Marys interest. Well done to the entire panel and preparation now begins for The Munster Cup against Presentation Thurles.

Well done to our Minor soccer team that had a comprehensive 6-1 win over St Augustines Waterford in the Munster Cup quarter final

Soccer Success 8/1/18

St. Mary’s 6

Nenagh College 3

St Mary’s had a good win over near neighbours Nenagh College in the Junior Shannonside league on Thursday 10^th Jan in Brickfields.

We fell behind to an early Nenagh College goal but from then on we started to assert ourselves with Leah McLoughney and Aoibhinn Slattery doing well in defence supported by Lynn Farrell making her debut!

Before long we hit the equaliser. After a sustained spell of pressure the ball fell kindly to winger Amy O Mahoney and her low shot found the far corner. In midfield Niamh O Brien and Knigh’s Emma Gavin were gaining plenty of possession and it was Gavin’s shot that put St. Mary’s into the lead.

After half time a tame shot from Gavin evaded the Nenagh College goalie to increase the lead before impressive substitute Jodie McGrath scored her first in St Mary’s colours. Julianna Gaska took over from Aine Tuohy in goals and showed great composure in what was her first time in goals. Niamh O Brien completed a barnstorming run with a good finish to add a fifth before another substitute, Nichola Lehane prodded home after a goal mouth scramble to bring the tally to six. To their credit Nenagh College never gave up and two second half goals put a fairer reflection on proceedings.

In all 20 girls got to play and each ever one deserve credit for their commitment to the cause on a wet and cold January day.

St Marys – Natalie Creamer ,Anna Mulcahy, Lynn Farrell, Julia Madden ,Cindy Diplacido ,Lera Anton Julianna Gaska ,Sarah Murphy ,Niamh O Brien ,Aoibhinn Slattery,Aine Tuohy ,Leah McLoughney Emma Gavin ,Ashling O Meara,Shauna Manning ,Jodie McGrath ,Amy McCarthy ,Niamh Pateman ,Mollie Kennedy ,Katie O Keefe ,Amy O Mahoney Andrea Brennan,Hannah Fleming ,Ellie Loughnane ,Avril Dooley ,Lauren Spain ,Snigdha Sibi , Nichola Lehane

Junior Soccer through to Munster Semi Final 4/12/17

Well done to our Junior Soccer Squad who defeated Abbeyside Community College, Waterford in a thriller to reach our first Munster Junior Cup Semi Final.

After a long journey the opening periods were a cagey affair with both teams working each other out. Shortly before half time St Mary’s ratcheted up the pressure with Aoibhinn Ryan and Medhbh Ryan asserting their presence in midfield and finally the breakthrough came when Megan Grace broke free down the right before producing a lovely ball across the box where Emma Keating duly made no mistake.

Defending champions Abbeyside were spurred into life and suddenly our back four of Emer Touhy, Fiona Kirwan, Caoimhe Clancy and Ellen Cunnen were forced to withstand some sustained pressure. Aine Touhy produced some great moments before being finally undone as the hosts equalised. St Mary’s responded and pressed hard right to the end with Fiona Pateman and Sarah Madden putting in some serious work before the ref’s whistle signalled the end to normal time and an additional twenty minutes.

St Mary’s replaced tired legs with Niamh Cuneen and Grace Kennedy adding an extra attacking threat and it was good pressure from Kennedy that forced the mistake in an otherwise assured Abbeyside defence that allowed Emma Keating to race through before coolly slotting the ball past the advancing keeper.

Both sides had chances as physically both s paid for their earlier endeavours and in the dying minutes the resilient Waterford school forced a free kick on the edge of our box. The result was an outstanding free kick which flew to the net leaving Aine Touhy with no chance and the dreaded prospects of penalty kicks were suddenly a reality.

The Cuneen twins Ellen and Niamh, Fiona Patemen and Aoibhinn Slattery showed cool converting their spot kicks and when Medhb Ryan brilliantly saved her second and our opponent’s final penalty it handed us a precious away win. Well done to the entire squad!

Aine Touhy ,Emer Touhy ,Caoimhe Clancy ,Sarah Madden ,Niamh Cuneen ,Ellen Cuneen ,Caoimhe Kennedy ,Medhbh Ryan ,Emma Keating ,Fiona Pateman ,Fiona Kirwan, Aoibhinn Delaney ,Grace Kennedy ,Megan Grace , Melanie Dumitriu ,Orla Clarke ,Mikayla Doran ,Rachel Shanaghan ,Eileen Gleeson ,Siobhan Collins ,Rebecca Murphy,Caitlin Ducie Hogan, Emma O Hara, Mary O Brien, Katie Grace ,Annie Ryan

Junior Cup Victory

Our Junior Cup team defeated Colaiste Choilm of Ballincollig on a final scoreline of 6-2 in the first round of the Munster Junior Cup. The team got an excellent start and penned the home side deep in their own half and were duly rewarded with goals from Aoibhinn Delaney and Fiona Kirwan. We conceded from a penalty before half time but bounced back with an Emma Keating strike to leave the scores 4-2 to St. Mary’s at half time.

Second half strikes from Keating and substitute Niamh Cuneen completed the scoring and put a fairer reflection on events. It was a real team performance from start to finish. Medhbh Ryan was her consistent best in goal with Emer Touhy, Ellen Cunneen, Caoimhe Clancy and joint captain Fiona Kirwan forming a formidable defence. In midfield Aoibhinn Delaney, Orlaith Clarke and Caoimhe Kennedy were magnificent in the engine room. In attack Emma Keating was a constant threat on the wing, No. 10 Fiona Pateman always linked well with midfield whilst Sarah Madden was full of running and unlucky with several super efforts. Niamh Cunneen, Mary O Brien, Aine Tuohy and Grace Kennedy were all introduced and made their presence felt too.

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After a gap of over 15 years St . Marys reformed our schools soccer teams in 2016, entering teams into the Shannon side Junior and Senior leagues. The Juniors had a year to remember with victories over Borrisokane CC,. St Ailbhe’s Tipperary Town and St Mary’s Charleville to emerge victorious in their division.